Ed’s note: This is the third in a series of four posts from our resident river rover,  Jimmy Sallis. Predominantly a river angler, Jimmy does occasionally dip into stillwaters too.  You can also find him on twitter as @jimmysallis and facebook, and he’ll be here on weekly basis sharing his bankside exploits. Catch up with his other posts here.

Whilst you’re getting to know the river  you should also be taking the time to spot some fish. Clear water is a huge advantage here and something I will not go down to the river without is a pair of polarised glasses. Sit, wait and watch the fish. You’ll see how they behave, how they compete for food and, amongst many other things, you will see how they interact with one another.

Taking a mixture of baits is a good idea. Just because you can’t see the fish does not mean they are not there! What looks like an empty swim can be brought to life by simply flicking in a few maggots or casters by a grass bed or an undercut bank. Take the time to do this and you’ll start to gain an understanding of which baits get the fish excited.

On most of the rivers you fish these days you will rarely see barbel up in the water; more often than not you will see them cruising the bottom or sat in the flow picking off food particles rolling through the swim.

Chub do the same but they can be encouraged to feed up high in the water much more easily than barbel, and once you get them competing for food your chances of a fish on the hook will increase ten fold.

That’s not to say barbel won’t feed up in the water, they will, but in my experience Chub will feed with a lot more ease once they realise it’s safe to feed.

If the water clarity isn’t great, keep your eye out for changes on the water surface, i.e swirls when the feed you’re introducing is going through the swim, or even bubbles and fizzing in a pre-baited barbel swim. These are all signs of fish activity in the swim.

Above all, again I can’t emphasise enough, once you have spotted the fish, sit and watch them and you will learn a lot.

Jimmy

If you’d like to submit a post to Mr. Crabtree, or would like to write regularly for us, get in touch with our editor and tell us more about yourself.

Don’t forget to follow @mrcrabtree on twitter and Facebook too!